Recently, a secondary battery, which can be charged and discharged, has been widely used as an energy source for wireless mobile devices. Also, the secondary battery has attracted considerable attention as an energy source for electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), which have been developed to solve problems, such as air pollution, caused by existing gasoline and diesel vehicles using fossil fuel.
Small-sized mobile devices use one or several small-sized battery cells for each device. On the other hand, middle- or large-sized devices, such as vehicles, use a middle- or large-sized battery module having a plurality of battery cells electrically connected with each other because high output and large capacity are necessary for the middle- or large-sized devices.
Preferably, the middle- or large-sized battery module is manufactured with small size and small weight if possible. For this reason, a prismatic battery or a pouch-shaped battery, which can be stacked with high integration and has a small weight to capacity ratio, is usually used as a battery cell of the middle- or large-sized battery module. Especially, much interest is currently generated in the pouch-shaped battery, which uses an aluminum laminate sheet as a sheathing member, because the weight of the pouch-shaped battery is small and the manufacturing costs of the pouch-shaped battery are low.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view typically illustrating a conventional representative pouch-shaped battery. The pouch-shaped battery 100 shown in FIG. 1 is constructed in a structure in which two electrode leads 110 and 120 protrude from the upper and lower ends of a battery body 130, respectively, while the electrode leads 110 and 120 are opposite to each other. A sheathing member 140 comprises upper and lower sheathing parts. That is, the sheathing member 140 is a two-unit member. An electrode assembly (not shown) is received in a receiving part which is defined between the upper and lower sheathing parts of the sheathing member 140. The opposite sides 140a and the upper and lower ends 140b and 140c, which are contact regions of the upper and lower sheathing parts of the sheathing member 140, are bonded to each other, whereby the pouch-shaped battery 100 is manufactured. The sheathing member 140 is constructed in a laminate structure of a resin layer/a metal film layer/a resin layer. Consequently, it is possible to bond the opposite sides 140a and the upper and lower ends 140b and 140c of the upper and lower sheathing parts of the sheathing member 140, which are in contact with each other, to each other by applying heat and pressure to the opposite sides 140a and the upper and lower ends 140b and 140c of the upper and lower sheathing parts of the sheathing member 140 so as to weld the resin layers thereof to each other. According to circumstances, the opposite sides 140a and the upper and lower ends 140b and 140c of the upper and lower sheathing parts of the sheathing member 140 may be bonded to each other using a bonding agent. For the opposite sides 140a of the sheathing member 140, the same resin layers of the upper and lower sheathing parts of the sheathing member 140 are in direct contact with each other, whereby uniform sealing at the opposite sides 140a of the sheathing member 140 is accomplished by welding. For the upper and lower ends 140b and 140c of the sheathing member 140, on the other hand, the electrode leads 110 and 120 protrude from the upper and lower ends 140b and 140c of the sheathing member 140, respectively. For this reason, the upper and lower ends 140b and 140c of the upper and lower sheathing parts of the sheathing member 140 are thermally welded to each other, while a film-shaped sealing member 160 is interposed between the electrode leads 110 and 120 and the sheathing member 140, in consideration of the thickness of the electrode leads 110 and 120 and the difference in material between the electrode leads 110 and 120 and the sheathing member 140, so as to increase sealability of the sheathing member 140.
However, the mechanical strength of the sheathing member 140 is low. In order to solve this problem, there has been proposed a method of mounting battery cells (unit cells) in a pack case, such as a cartridge, so as to manufacture a battery module having a stable structure. However, a device or a vehicle, in which a middle- or large-sized battery module is installed, has a limited installation space. Consequently, when the size of the battery module is increased due to the use of the pack case, such as the cartridge, the spatial utilization is lowered. Also, due to the low mechanical strength, the battery cells repeatedly expand and contract during the charge and the discharge of the battery cells. As a result, the thermally welded regions of the sheathing member may be easily separated from each other.
Also, when a middle- or large-sized battery module is constructed using a plurality of battery cells or a plurality of unit modules each of which includes a predetermined number of battery cells, a plurality of members for mechanical coupling and electrical connection between the battery cells or the unit modules are needed, and a process for assembling the mechanical coupling and electrical connection members is very complicated. Furthermore, there is needed a space for coupling, welding, or soldering the mechanical coupling and electrical connection members with the result that the total size of the system is increased. The increase in size of the system is not preferred in consideration of the spatial limit of an apparatus or device in which the middle- or large-sized battery module is mounted.
In this connection, there have been proposed several middle- or large-sized battery modules manufactured by simplified assembly processes. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-209365 discloses a battery module including a center frame to which battery cells are individually mounted and terminal-side and bottom-side frames coupled respectively to the lower and upper ends of the center frame while the battery cells are mounted to the center frame. The disclosed battery module has an advantage in that the assembly of the battery module is easy. However, only the central parts of the battery cells are fixed to the center frame with the result that it is difficult to restrain the contraction and expansion of the battery cells during the repetitive charge and discharge of the battery cells, and therefore, it is limited to use pouch-shaped battery cells without modifying the battery cells. In addition, there is needed a process for connecting electrode terminals of the battery cells to a circuit board so as to accomplish the electrical connection between the battery cells. Furthermore, the size of the battery module is inevitably increased due to the provision of the center frame.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-123721 discloses a battery module constructed in a structure in which a prismatic battery cell stack is fixed to an upper-side case, a lower-side case, and a pair of end plates. However, the disclosed battery module has several problems in that the battery cells are fixed while being in tight contact with each other with the result that the heat dissipation is not easily accomplished, it is structurally difficult to use pouch-shaped battery cells in the battery module, and an additional member for interconnecting the end plates is needed.
Meanwhile, since a battery module is a structural body including a plurality of battery cells which are combined with each other, the safety and the operating efficiency of the battery module are lowered when overvoltage, overcurrent, and overheat occurs in some of the battery cells. Consequently, a sensing unit for sensing the overvoltage, overcurrent, and overheat are needed. Specifically, voltage and temperature sensors are connected to the battery cells so as to sense and control the operation of the battery cells in real time or at predetermined time intervals. However, the attachment or the connection of the sensing unit complicates the assembly process of the battery module. In addition, short circuits may occur due to the provision of a plurality of wires necessary for the attachment or the connection of the sensing unit.
Consequently, there is high necessity for a middle- or large-sized battery module that is compact and structurally stable, as described above, and, in addition, allows the sensing unit to be mounted thereto in a simple structure.